A layered tale of true crime, family ties, and unveiled secrets.
A teen true-crime aficionado investigates a murder in her small Connecticut town.
Natalie Temple spends her last summer before college in the usual way: waking up far too early to exercise with her mother, Helen; working at the family diner; interning at the local newspaper; and secretly recording her true-crime podcast, Killing Time, with her best friend, Katie. Because her frustratingly overprotective and anxious mother has forbidden Natalie from indulging in her love for crime and murder, Natalie finds herself constantly at odds with her and often hiding her activities. When her favorite teacher is murdered, Natalie decides to investigate her death—both to honor Mrs. Halsey and to test her own skills as a budding investigative reporter. But danger lurks in Ferry, and soon everybody’s secrets will be out in the open. Ehrlich’s engaging thriller unfolds in two timelines with occasional flashbacks to Helen’s difficult first year in college that provide an insight into just how similar mother and daughter are despite their fraught relationship. That relationship is one of the core strengths of the novel, together with the seamless convergence of timelines and Natalie’s bumpy character arc. The novel thoughtfully examines the sometimes-exploitative, often titillating nature of the true-crime phenomenon while also, in a fine balancing act, paying homage to it. All main characters are assumed White.
A layered tale of true crime, family ties, and unveiled secrets. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-335-41867-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lukewarm thriller.
In England, a group of teenagers tries to stay alive when a long weekend in an abandoned castle goes wrong.
When Bessie and her friends decide to join a party their classmate Allegra is throwing in her family’s abandoned castle before it’s converted into apartments, they think the biggest issues they’ll face are making it there before a big storm hits and keeping their plans secret from their parents and teachers. Once they arrive at the castle, however, Bessie and best friend Kashvi discover menacing graffiti and evidence that someone has been staying in the cellar. They also learn that protestors from the nearby village are angry about the development plans for the castle—one of them even argues that it would be better to burn it down. A handful of classmates manage to get there before the storm gets too severe. But when the teens wake up the next day to discover one of their own dead, and the storm makes it impossible for them to leave, they quickly realize that they’re in danger. But is the killer one of the members of the Facebook protestors’ group…or one of their own? Despite the book’s intriguing setup, the prose is dominated by repetitive conversations that convey little substance. Still, readers may still find themselves propelled forward by a need to discover the identity of the murderer. The central cast is racially diverse.
A lukewarm thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593704080
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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